Chocolates for Sleeping Beauty
by jervaulx
Summary: Through hard work and effort, Shouko is on her way to delivering her present to Seiso's Sleeping Beauty . . . except, she gave it to the wrong person. A ShouIchi Valentine story.


_disclaimer: I do not own Kin'iro no Corda_

**Chocolates For Sleeping Beauty**

Shouko did not know what to do.

In all her entire sixteen years of living, she had never once gave presents to anyone outside family during Hearts Day. Gifting chocolates and cards were a sign of affection to her, one not to be taken lightly and is of gratifying importance. Aside from her lack of confidence and tumultuous trait, it was one of the main reasons she had to shake her head at the thought of handing her handiwork to random someones. Valentine's Day—it was a day to give and receive.

Yet entering the concours had not only changed her lifestyle but also her routine. Along the way, she'd come to break out of her shell, discovering a lady enjoying the company of friends and acquaintances, male and female alike, and readily mingling with them although the shy Shouko still remained. Most of all, she found herself capable of liking someone more than a friend; not quite love yet close enough. Keiichi Shimizu, her fellow freshman concours competitor, in particular.

It was that _more than a friend_ status which brought her here, in the deserted hallways of soundproof music rooms, closed and occupied. Agitation slowly mounted within her every passing minute, just standing there fidgeting on her feet. The chocolates wrapped in red and ribbons were clutched tightly in her hands, unaware that she might be crushing it.

"Loosen up, dear, or you might ruin that present of yours," commented someone from behind her. She spun around quickly, loosening her grip in surprise. "That's more like it."

"M—Mori-senpai," she acknowledged with a hesitant bow, welcoming the sight of her blonde senpai smiling calmly.

"Don't forget me," declared another, an arm sliding across Shouko's shoulders from behind. Without glancing at _another_, she knew it was the school journalist, Nami Amou, if the black uniform and enthusiastic tone were indication enough. "So, what's up?"

"I believe Fuyuumi-chan was planning on giving chocolates to a _special someone_, neh?" Manami replied, both woman staring at the kohai for confirmation. Shouko nodded, reddening at the word _special someone_.

Nami clucked her tongue, shaking her head as she released the teal-head maiden. "Ah, _love_. I can almost see hearts in the air," she said, spinning once with her hand in the air. She shook her head again, dejected this time.

"A—Anou, I won't call it l—love."

"Everything leads to that eventually," affirmed the blonde with a convinced nod. She had a dreamy look on her face, and Shouko had not doubt that she was one of the many victims of Cupid's arrow.

The brunette huffed, obviously disagreeing, her hands akimbo. "Not exactly everything. Heaven forbid if that happens to me after today." She turned the topic back to the kohai, curiosity compelling her to ask: "Are you still planning on deliver that"—she flicked her wrist, indicating at the red wrappings—"to Shimizu-kun?"

The lass bobbed her head, her face heating up a thousand degrees. _Was she that easy to read?_

"I suggest that you aim it at his head to finish the task quickly," Manami butted in laughingly, her cyan eyes twinkling as she stole a significant glance on Nami's direction. The latter found no humor in it, however, narrowing her eyes on the former before they both burst out of laughter.

Baffled at their words and actions, she scowled then promptly asked, "Wh—What is it?"

As though remembering where and who they were with, her senpais faltered. "Oh, it was nothing. Don't do it, okay? It's for professionals only," Nami said proudly, straightening her stance. She was apparently talking about herself. "Although it might be effective, a wake up call, since Shimizu-kun's always asleep," she added, _sotto voce_.

"Anyway," Manami drawled, resting her hand on Shouko's shoulder assuringly, "why don't you proceed now? We'll be here to support you."

Nami, like Manami, placed a hand on her other shoulder. "That's right. Go get him, Fuyuumi-chan!" she encouraged, grinning widely and giving her a light squeeze.

Shouko glanced at them, gratitude and admiration for the two overwhelming her. "Th—Thank you, senpai."

They gave her a little push. "Don't think about morbid possibilities."

"And quit worrying; it's no good at all."

At that exact moment, a door opened with a soft click. She took a calming breath to steady the roaring beat of her heart. As she heard his footsteps coming closer, she closed her eyes for her carefully weaved courage were slowly unraveling, leaving her anxious and weak. It was closer now . . . slowly . . . leisurely . . . just one more step.

"P—Please accept th—this chocolates."

"Fuyuumi-san?"

That was definitely not Keiichi's soft angelic voice, instead it was cool and supercilious. With painstaking patience and a sense of foreboding sliding down her spine, Shouko raised her head and looked up, meeting Len's smoldering hazel eyes. All color drained from her cheeks as shameful reality overcame a moment's mortification. Never had she known such a humiliation existed until now.

"S—S—Sorry!" She thrust the thing on his chest and without further ado, ran away from the hall as far as her legs could accommodate her.

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

"This is all your fault, Tsukimori-kun! Why did you have to go out from your room?"

"I beg your pardon but what exactly are you talking about?"

"Now, now, Amou-san, let's talk this out quietly and calmly . . ."

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

"Fuyuumi-chan gave me chocolates."

The group of girls, seniors from the music department as indicated by their green kerchiefs and cream white blazers, giggled at this announcement said in high-spiritedly puerile tone without any hint of boastfulness.

"Fuyuumi-chan gave me chocolates."

The trio of freshman boys, he later realized were Shouko's _biggest fans_ from the gen-ed department, gazed at him in envy and veiled approval, their eyes drawn to the red heart case in his hand he'd been parading around the campus with unconcealed joy the moment he received it from his senpais—_proxies_, they called themselves.

"Fuyuumi-chan gave me chocolates."

The brunette glanced at his shoulder in confusion before settling on his face and recognizing him as one of the concours participant. He scratched the side of his cheek lightly, uncertainly commenting. "Err, yeah. That's so cool, man." Suddenly feeling awkward, the sophomore started scanning the place. It was then that he noticed a familiar figure avoiding eye contact. "And look, she's just right over there!"

Following the path of the music student's pointing finger, Keiichi found her bashfully standing beside the fairy's statue, hands clasped in front of her primly, her eyes on the ground. Inclining his head in thanks, he marched towards her direction, his pace faster than usual.

He hunched down upon reaching his destination, one hand resting on his knee while the other protected the case. "They say a chocolate heals a broken heart," he told her, pleasingly watching her light magenta eyes widen in surprise, "especially when it's made by someone you value the most."

An involuntary smile tugged at her lips, understanding his meaning.

_I had been waiting for an indication of your affection . . . and it almost broke my heart when I received none . . . until the last minute._

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

Author's Note  
><em>Never expected that it would be this long.<em>  
><em>But at least it was easy writing about them.<em>  
><em>Finished this at 2.00 AM. Totally worth it.<em>  
><em>So there goes my Valentine Story #3<em>  
><em>Stay tuned for #4!<em>  
><em>Tell me what you think? ;)<em>

_Shout out to anonymous reviewers of Belittled_:  
><em>A VEEERY BIG THANK YOU! I'm so glad you enjoyed TsuchiMori's hand-over-the-letter game :)<em>


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